Roderick Gauci
Stunt Coordinator
- Joined
- Mar 3, 2002
- Messages
- 165
This news may be old hat to all you Bondphiles out there, but I have recently searched in several online stores, both Region 1 (AMAZON, DEEP DISCOUNT) and Region 2 retailers (PLAY, BENSONWORLD), for 4 of MGM’s Special Edition DVDs of The James Bond Series, namely THUNDERBALL (released in 1999), YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE, ON HER MAJESTY’S SECRET SERVICE and DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER (all released in 2000). Amazon lists the discs as being of “Limited Availablity” (with a cringe-inducing price to match!), while all the others either state that these discs have been discontinued, or else omit them entirely.
I had already bought the first (and best) three James Bond movies on Region 1 DVD from a local retailer about a year ago. I am not generally a fan of action movies but I think that the earlier James Bond films (the first seven official entries in the series) with all their charm, exoticism, wit and style represent a pinnacle for this genre of film-making. I have enjoyed most of the rest of the series (which have unfortunately degenerated into campy, effects-laden extravaganzas) but I am not so enthusiastic about them as to add them to my DVD collection. However, I am quite satisfied with the Special Edition DVDs I own as they are, and was looking forward to adding the other four in my next order. In fact, I had been toying with the idea of acquiring them for a long time but always kept postponing them because of some missing footage in ON HER MAJESTY’S SECRET SERVICE (which should have been included in a subsequent repressing of the disc, but I haven’t any idea if this was ever done or not, or if this mistake affected both Region 1 and Region 2 versions or not)!
Actually I did manage to find them at a relatively cheap price (including free shipping) at DVD BOX OFFICE, an online store based in Canada. But I have read elsewhere that all the James Bond discs will be reissued on DVD to coincide with the theatrical release of the twentieth James Bond film later on this year, but I did not find any positive confirmation of this anywhere. There must be some morsel of truth in this because it does not make sound financial sense to just stop producing such popular discs, not to mention, in such superbly comprehensive editions. I should think that most of you have already got all these DVDs, so whether they will be re-released or not would be of little importance. My instinct tells me to just go buy these great discs at such an attractive price right now, but I would hate to see them coming out in superior editions (?) in a couple of months’ time!!
I had already bought the first (and best) three James Bond movies on Region 1 DVD from a local retailer about a year ago. I am not generally a fan of action movies but I think that the earlier James Bond films (the first seven official entries in the series) with all their charm, exoticism, wit and style represent a pinnacle for this genre of film-making. I have enjoyed most of the rest of the series (which have unfortunately degenerated into campy, effects-laden extravaganzas) but I am not so enthusiastic about them as to add them to my DVD collection. However, I am quite satisfied with the Special Edition DVDs I own as they are, and was looking forward to adding the other four in my next order. In fact, I had been toying with the idea of acquiring them for a long time but always kept postponing them because of some missing footage in ON HER MAJESTY’S SECRET SERVICE (which should have been included in a subsequent repressing of the disc, but I haven’t any idea if this was ever done or not, or if this mistake affected both Region 1 and Region 2 versions or not)!
Actually I did manage to find them at a relatively cheap price (including free shipping) at DVD BOX OFFICE, an online store based in Canada. But I have read elsewhere that all the James Bond discs will be reissued on DVD to coincide with the theatrical release of the twentieth James Bond film later on this year, but I did not find any positive confirmation of this anywhere. There must be some morsel of truth in this because it does not make sound financial sense to just stop producing such popular discs, not to mention, in such superbly comprehensive editions. I should think that most of you have already got all these DVDs, so whether they will be re-released or not would be of little importance. My instinct tells me to just go buy these great discs at such an attractive price right now, but I would hate to see them coming out in superior editions (?) in a couple of months’ time!!
